Parafermions are the simplest generalizations of Majorana fermions that realize topological order. We propose a less restrictive notion of topological order in 1D open chains, which generalizes the seminal work by Fendley [J. Stat. Mech., P11020 (2012)]. The first essential property is that the groundstates are mutually indistinguishable by local, symmetric probes, and the second is a generalized notion of zero edge modes which cyclically permute the groundstates.

We analyse a class of 1D lattice models, known as M_k models, which are characterised by an order-k clustering of spin-less fermions and by N=2 lattice supersymmetry. We show a fundamental connection to Z_k parafermions and identify a class of (bulk or edge) defects, which are in one-to-one correspondence with so-called spin fields in the parafermion CFT. In the gapped regime, injecting such defects leads to ground state degeneracies that are protected by the supersymmetry.

The standard theory of topological insulators and superfluids (or superconductors) assumes that the fermionic elementary excitations in these systems – electrons in the insulator and Bogoliubov quasiparticles in the superfluid – do not interact with one another. In this talk I will discuss extensions of this theory to include the effects of interparticle interactions on the topological surface states of 3D topological insulators and superfluids.

Recent progress on the construction of holographic lattices and its applications to AdS/CMT correspondence will be briefly reviewed. Our special interests will focus on the building of bulk geometry of gravity whose holographic duals exhibit metal-insulator transitions (MIT). In particular, the Peierls phase transition induced by charge density waves is implemented in a holographic manner. The holographic entanglement entropy close to quantum critical points will be discussed as well.

Symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases can be thought of as generalizations of topological insulators. Just as topological insulators have robust boundary modes protected by time reversal and charge conservation symmetry, SPT phases have boundary modes protected by more general symmetries. In this talk, I will describe a method for analyzing 2D and 3D SPT phases using braiding statistics. More specifically, I will show that 2D and 3D SPT phases can be characterized by gauging their symmetries and studying the braiding statistics of their gauge flux excitations.

I will show how hydrodynamics is modified if the underlying fluid constituents are massless Weyl fermions, which are anomalous at the quantum level. Because of the nondissipative nature of the modification I will construct a partition function which compactly describes the transport properties of the system and I will explain how the anomalous properties can be understood in terms of kinetic theory and heat kernels.